Primetime Ratings: ‘Blacklist,’ ‘Scandal’ Split First Thursday Battle

In the first timeslot battle between James Spader and Shonda Rhimes, it was a split decision between the NBC and ABC dramas.

Rhimes’ Scandal won out in the adults 18-49 demo with a 3.1 rating, overtaking Blacklist’s 2.3 by 35%; Scandal was down 14% from last week. Among total viewers however, the race was much closer, with Blacklist drawing 9.9 million viewers, edging out Scandal’s 9.5 million.

Blacklist’s Thursday debut was down just two tenths from its last non-Super Bowl episode, which aired behind The Voice. Following Blacklist, new spy drama Allegiance struggled to just a 1.1 rating in the demo, down 15% from what Parenthood averaged in that timeslot.

Including a repeat of Blacklist’s post-Super Bowl episode at 8 p.m., NBC finished fourth on the night with an overall 1.5 rating/5 share.

ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder was down 13% to a 2.7 and Grey’s Anatomy fell 21% to a 2.2 rating at 8 p.m. ABC still led Thursday in the demo with a 2.7/9.

CBS finished second with a 2.4 / 8. The Big Bang Theory was the night’s top-rated show, even with last week at 4.5. Mom was even at 2.8. Two and a Half Men was even at 2.3. Elementary was up 15% at 1.5.

Fox was in third at 1.7 / 5. American Idol was up 9% from last Thursday at 2.4. Backstrom was down 29% at 1.0.

The CW finished fifth with a 0.6 / 2. The Vampire Diaries was up one tenth of a point at 0.8. Reign was even at 0.4. In the network’s target 18-34 ratings, Vampire Diaries drew a 0.9 and Reign a 0.4.